Victor Wembanyama Scores Career-High, San Antonio Spurs Sweep Phoenix Suns On Road
When the news that Phoenix Suns superstar Devin Booker would be returning to the lineup for the home team, the San Antonio Spurs had reason to be worried.
Just one game prior, the same Spurs team had gone down by 20 at halftime to the Booker-less Suns, and needed to mount a comeback down to the last second to pull off the upset. So, naturally, the odds weren't in San Antonio's favor.
But that didn't matter.
Behind Victor Wembanyama's career high 38 points, the Spurs found a plethora of offensive production, which included 38 assists — their most since 2014 — to give them much-needed momentum throughout the entire game, which ultimately ended in a second-straight win for San Antonio on the road, as it took a 132-121 victory to improve to 3-2 on the season.
Nov 2, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates a dunk with teammates against the Phoenix Suns in the first half at Footprint Center.
© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Right from the jump, the Spurs found their stroke, leaning on Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama to build a 13-0 lead before the Suns finally scratched the scoresheet.
From there, Kevin Durant — who finished the game with 28 points on 67 percent shooting — started to get active. He helped Phoenix cut the lead down to single digits, but despite his efforts, San Antonio pulled away to take a 19-point lead to the second quarter.
Both teams had themselves extremely productive second quarters, scoring 36 and 35, respectively, but despite the two-way offensive onslaught, the Spurs' lead held firm, even gaining one point to make it 20 at the half, and Vassell headed to the locker room with what the team called left-groin tightness.
Besides the injury — sound familiar?
Once again, a 20-point lead was taken to half, but the similarity only grows.
After a light run led by Booker and Durant in the third quarter allowed the Suns to come back by six points, the fourth quarter told the story of the entire game. Phoenix exploited a lacking Spurs defense to come all the way back in the fourth, and with four minutes to play in the last period, the game was knotted at 116 a piece.
From there, Wembanyama notched a few free throws to give the Spurs a narrow three-point lead before slamming a one-handed dunk over former San Antonio Spur Drew Eubanks to make it five.
Then, the rookie continued to take advantage of his matchup with Eubanks, hitting a 3-pointer followed by a mid-range shot to take the lead back to 10 — and the Spurs never looked back from there.
With the win, San Antonio recorded its second straight road victory over the Suns, Wembanyama recorded his career high — which puts him on a rookie leaderboard for most points alongside David Robinson — and once again reinforced his fourth-quarter dominance.
The Spurs now sit at 3-2 on the year and will look ahead to a much-welcomed home matchup against the Toronto Raptors Sunday afternoon.
Tipoff from Frost Bank Center is set for 2:30 p.m. CST.
